Post by maninasuitcase on Sept 19, 2018 7:30:16 GMT

Wiki definition:

"A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial movie, but not an arthouse film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature (akin to B-sides for recorded music). Although the U.S. production of movies intended as second features largely ceased by the end of the 1950s, the term B movie continues to be used in its broader sense to this day. In its post-Golden Age usage, there is ambiguity on both sides of the definition: on the one hand, the primary interest of many inexpensive exploitation films is prurient; on the other, many B movies display a high degree of craft and aesthetic ingenuity.In either usage, most B movies represent a particular genre—the Western was a Golden Age B movie staple, while low-budget science-fiction and horror films became more popular in the 1950s. Early B movies were often part of series in which the star repeatedly played the same character. Almost always shorter than the top-billed films they were paired with, many had running times of 70 minutes or less. The term connoted a general perception that B movies were inferior to the more lavishly budgeted headliners; individual B films were often ignored by critics."

A lot of these B Movies crop up on Talking Pictures or are released as part of Network's British Film series, etc.

Post by maninasuitcase on Sept 19, 2018 8:22:10 GMT

Crossroads to Crime (1960)

The only thing notable about this British stinker is it was the only feature film to be directed by Gerry Anderson.

The good: it only has a running time of 54 minutes and there is also a featurette on the DVD with interviews with Gerry, Sylvia Anderson, David "Parker" Graham and the film's editor David Elliot. It really is the most entertaining Extra I have seen since 'The Adventurer'! Each of them, in the 9 minutes length, takes in turn to say how shtye the film is. If you want to hear Parker use the F word then here is your chance.

The bad: everything else. Gerry's directing of the film is as rubbish as the threadbare and unbelievable plot. Filming took place in and around Slough (where Gerry's AP Films were based) in June 1960. Gerry and Sylvia (who worked as the continuity on this turkey) were at a bit of a loose end because production on 'Four Feather Falls' had finished in April 1960 and 'Supercar' wasn't due to go before the cameras until later that year. The budget for 'Crossroads to Crime' was £16500. It was first shown in UK cinemas in October 1960.

Talking of which, the plot. There are a load of robberies of goods lorries taking place near a roadside cafe. Oh hang on, I can't be bothered.....

The cast telephone their performances in mainly. Mriam Karlin was good as the woman who works at the cafe and Ferdy Mayne is pretty good as the chief of the bad guys. The Blofeld of this "film terrible".

The 54 minute running time will seem like a lifetime. The pq on the DVD is superb.

Available as part of Network's The British Film Range.

Extras: 'Crossroads to Crime Remembered' - the brilliant 9 minute featurette. , Cinema Trailer (20 times better than the film because it only lasts 2 minutes ). As this was later shown as part of the Edgar Wallace series you get the original UK titles.

Post by maninasuitcase on Sept 19, 2018 8:51:36 GMT

Walk a Tightrope (1963)

Don't let the fact that the low rent Hollywood "bad guy" Dan Duryea is in this budget British film, it is a cracker. Duryea was one of the most limited in ability American actors ever. He just played himself in every film he was ever in. He ended up being very typecast as the cut price "heavy" for many cheapo productions both in this country and the USA. However, don't let that put you off this quality thriller.

The plot is way too good for this cheap production and there is a superb twist as we near the end. The story concerns Ellen (Patricia Owens) who has only been married to her husband Jason for 3 months but she tells him she is being followed by a mysterious stranger (Duryea). I don't want to give too much away about the plot but this kept me guessing right until the end.

David Bauer turns up in his usual role as an American in a British made film. The film has a running time of 75 minutes and it is well directed by Frank Nesbitt. I was sad when this ended unlike 'Crossroads to Crime' when I got the bunting out.

Judging by the weather I would guess this was filmed in the early summer of 1963 and was released in September of that year.

Available as part of Network's The British Film Range. The only Extra is an Image Gallery. The pq is excellent.

Post by pr1 on Sept 19, 2018 15:02:23 GMT

Thanks for posting the original definition of B movies. It is too often used as a synonym for Bad. During Hollywood's Golden Age there were Studios and companies that essentially did nothing but make B movies. Even the major studios had "B Movie Units" to produce their series films like Charlie Chan, Sherlock Holmes etc.

Post by pr1 on Sept 19, 2018 17:58:24 GMT

He had an extensive career in movies and TV. He was a competent actor but not impressive or memorable. He's in an early episode of The Twilight Zone and he was good in that. His son became an actor and was in the first Star Trek pilot and pops up in other stuff made in 1960s.

Post by maninasuitcase on Sept 20, 2018 10:52:38 GMT

Assassin for Hire (1951)

Good old Sydney Tafler is cast in this el cheapo Merton Park Studio British crime thriller. The title makes it sound much more glamorous than this film is. Tafler not only puts on his de rigeur hairpiece on but adopts a pretty terrible cod Italian accent. Just think Bruce Forsyth crossed with Joe Dolce. Tafler really isn't convincing as an Italian immigrant living in London who is a rare postage stamp dealer by day and a deadly assassin by night!

Sid lives with his wife and violin playing brother in a drab flat. You would think that someone who was killing for £ hundreds every time could afford something better!

Plod, Ronald Howard and Gerald case are onto Syd fairly soon on the film. Perhaps the assassin's description was "bloke with a dodgy accent wearing an obvious toupee".

Apart from a rather strained performance from Tafler nobody really stands out in the cast, they do their jobs and pick up their cheques for £5 (or less knowing how low the budget had to have been).

The pq is OK but there is often a rather loud bit of unwelcome background noise on the soundtrack.

At 64 minutes it maybe over long by around 10 minutes by I enjoyed it even though I thought the ending was rather obviously telegraphed.

Post by maninasuitcase on Sept 20, 2018 10:53:07 GMT

Wide Boy (1952)

I presume this is a sort of sequel to Assassin for Hire (1951) because we get Ronald Howard playing Detective Inspector Carson and Gerald Case playing Detective Sergeant Stott in both films. Both movies were written by Rex Reinits so I would have to say this and 'Assassin for Hire' are very much connected.

Again starring is 1950s British B Movie "icon" Sydney Tafler (wearing his obligatory toupee ). Tafler plays Benny Mercer a black marketeer who sells stuff like stolen nylon stockings illegally by hawking (fly pitching) on the London streets. A bit like Del Boy Trotter did in the 1980s. Except in this crime movie Benny is no Del Boy. He stoops to theft, blackmail and eventually murder in his bid to make a few hundred quid so he can buy better clothes, treat his girlfriend to nice jewellery, etc. The film clearly focuses on how easy it is to turn from being a petty offender into a serious criminal on the run from the police.

Tafler is very good as the not very pleasant 'Wide Boy' but none of the rest of the cast sticks out as particularly memorable. Welsh born actor Glyn Houston (who is still with us aged 92) has a fairly small role as a club barman.

This is a London of long ago with bombed out buildings still evident. Well, it was filmed only 7 years after the war had ended. London in 1952 looks pretty grubby.

This is an above average Merton Park Studio very low budget crime movie and doesn't outstay its welcome at 63 minutes.

Apparently the film's budget was a mere £7000!

The print is OK but there are noticeable signs of wear and (quite literally) tear.

Post by maninasuitcase on Sept 22, 2018 7:58:42 GMT

Mystery Junction (1951)

Guess what? Yep, it is yet another Merton Park Studio production with yet again Sydney Tafler in the lead role. No toupee most of the time for Sydney in this film, he is sporting quite a large bald patch in some shots (but not others). Makes me wonder if he wigged up half way through filming.

This film was thought lost for decades but thankfully (unlike the woeful 'Crossroads to Crime') it was found. This really is a quality 61 minute thriller with more red herrings than Billingsgate Market!

The plot borrows a fair bit off 'The Ghost Train' (1941) but there is no ghost train and no irritating Arthur "Sodding" Askey. I Thang (sic) You. Tafler, who is very good in the lead role, plays a crime writer who finds himself on a train travelling north in appalling weather and subsequently at a snowbound and very isolated train station. He is, of course, joined by a load of strangers after the train stops there and they all alight not realising the snow is so bad that all road links are cut off. Unsurprisingly, there is a high profile criminal, some policemen, a murderer and several people not who they pretend to be...... Guess what? It is then down to Tafler's character to solve the mystery.

There are only two sets, on the train and the station room itself. The outside views of the snowbound railway line and station are obvious b/w still photographs. This was Merton Park not Columbia!

The fact that this is completely studio bound and the snow is as fake as Tafler's hair in all his future films doesn't impinge at all in believing these travellers really are snowbound in a railway station in the middle of nowhere. I would guess that it is meant to be Yorkshire. They mention Redcar and that the train they were on was bound for Scotland.

The rest of the cast are all good but Barbara Murray stands out along side Tafler in her role as the leading man's leading lady. I thought I spotted the German actor Anton Diffring in a non speaking role as an English policeman but I can find no credit anywhere for that. Watching it again in close up I can see it isn't him!

When discovered the BFI had it restored and the film looks beautiful. I really do recommend this as a good way to spend an hour.

Post by maninasuitcase on Sept 22, 2018 8:36:27 GMT

A photographic still used to portray the fact that weather at the station is rather inclement.

Tafler is on the left. Notice the prominent bald patch in a photo I have turned up the brightness on.

Tafler is on the right here in this brightness adjusted photo grab. He must be wearing a toupee here because the bald patch has disappeared! Makes me wonder if there was a gap in filming and Tafler decided his future lay at worshipping the Temple of the Toupee. Unbelievable that an actor should be balding one shot and then have a full head of hair in another.

Post by maninasuitcase on Sept 25, 2018 8:41:35 GMT

Down to old Merton Park Studio again with this quota quicky. No sign of Mr Toupee - Sid Tafler though. Not too much time to get bored with a running time of 58 minutes.

No notable stars but well known British character actors Paul Whitsun-Jones, Barry Keegan and Harold Goodwin are all present and correct.

The plot? Some robbers are carrying out nefarious deeds and one of their robberies goes wrong when they cosh a Post Office employee, who later dies, and one of the gang calls out the name "Angelo" to another of the robbers. Perhaps it gave Brotherhood of Man ideas? During the robbery some old dear accidentally dials the wrong number and ends up calling the gang's hideout and the woman accomplice answers the phone with "Is that you Angelo?". Of course, the old bag hears about the robbery, Angelo's involvement and begins to put 2 and 2 together.......

Post by maninasuitcase on Sept 26, 2018 7:10:48 GMT

The Key Man (1957)

One of 5 films made by Canadian "star" Lee Patterson for Merton Park Studios in the mid to late 50s. He seemed to take over from Syd Tafler as the studio's leading man circa 1956. TBH he isn't a bad leading man for a B Movie like this one.

Sadly, I have report that the pq on this film is pretty poor. OK, nowhere near as bad as 'Night Train for Inverness'! At least the print here is quite clear but there are specks and scratches on every frame despite the film being "a brand new transfer from the original film elements". It looks as though someone had unrolled the film and dragged it across a tarmac road afterwards.

The plot? Radio star Lionel Hulme (Patterson) tries to track down a criminal who got away with £20K a decade earlier. His partner on that job was also murdered. The crim had served 7 years in stir but on release has disappeared. Some say he is dead but others refute that claim. There is a mystery killer trying to get the cash as well..... and why are two mystery keys so important.............?

Patterson is pretty good as the leading man. Nice to see Colin "The Baron" Gordon pop up as Lionel Hulme's radio producer pal. None of the other members of the cast were known to me but none stuck out as particularly memorable. They are just OK. This is Merton Park not Warner Bros!

This is a plain average British B Movie crime thriller and one that isn't very memorable. It is reasonable but at under 1 hour it passes the time fairly well.

Post by Portland Road on Sept 26, 2018 19:23:38 GMT

Sept 22, 2018 8:58:42 GMT 1 maninasuitcase said:

Mystery Junction (1951)

The fact that this is completely studio bound and the snow is as fake as Tafler's hair in all his future films doesn't impinge at all in believing these travellers really are snowbound in a railway station in the middle of nowhere. I would guess that it is meant to be Yorkshire. They mention Redcar and that the train they were on was bound for Scotland.

....it must indeed have been a mystery junction because Redcar is on a branch from the main line to Scotland

Post by maninasuitcase on Sept 27, 2018 6:32:42 GMT

The fact that this is completely studio bound and the snow is as fake as Tafler's hair in all his future films doesn't impinge at all in believing these travellers really are snowbound in a railway station in the middle of nowhere. I would guess that it is meant to be Yorkshire. They mention Redcar and that the train they were on was bound for Scotland.

....it must indeed have been a mystery junction because Redcar is on a branch from the main line to Scotland

I guessed Redcar was in Yorkshire. You will probably tell me it isn't!

Post by maninasuitcase on Sept 27, 2018 6:48:47 GMT

The Flying Scot (1957)

This is a really tense heist movie that was also known as 'The Mailbag Robbery' just in case you thought the other title referred to a Scottish person travelling via Ryanair to Mallorca. The Flying Scot is the name of a train that sometimes carries £500K of used banknotes on the way for destruction to the Bank of England. Strangely the only person on the train is a normal guard who seems to spend all his time checking tickets. I presume they were strongly advised not to call the movie 'The Flying Scotsman' just in case in gave Ronnie Biggs and co any ideas.......

Co creator of this crime thriller was Ralph (Danger Man) Smart. Canuck actor Lee Patterson, the cut price Tony Curtis with his DA hairstyle, turns up as a thoroughly bad guy in this film. Quifftastic. I prefer Patterson as a bad guy. Nobody else of any real fame appears but Alan Gifford is very good as an accomplice robber who has a perforated ulcer and might not make it through the train journey before he collapses.

The whole film is studio bound with stock footage used for any exterior train sequences.

Post by maninasuitcase on Sept 27, 2018 7:09:36 GMT

Man with a Gun (1958).

Merton Park Studios again. Lee Patterson again. This time he plays a good guy insurance claim investigator Mike Davies who has a licence for a revolver. I suppose if he didn't the title would have been 'Man without a Gun'.

A gang from Southampton want to move in on London and take over some nightclubs. Anyone that doesn't take kindly to their offers to buy them out cheaply is torched. Hence why Lee Patterson's character is into on the investigation. He soon befriends a club owner Harry Drayson (John Le Mesurier) and his daughter Stella is played by Rona (Mrs Gordon Jackson) Anderson. At first Davies thinks Drayson might have torched his own club for the insurance money but soon finds out it that its the Southampton boys who are led by a mystery leader whom the police don't know his identity. Of course, you spend the whole film trying to work out which of the main characters will be revealed as the gang's leader and mastermind.

Filling out the cast are Marne Maitland, Eurovision Scottish singer Glen Mason and character Bill Nagy are the other "big names" on display.

This is pretty good crime thriller that keeps you guessing although I guessed the identity of the chief villain fairly early on.

What is he up to this time? Well Lee plays Trevor Hamilton an airline pilot whose wife gets murdered and he doesn't really have much of an alibi...... So, you have the usual suspects but who murdered his wife and why......... Trev decides to solve the crime.

This film benefits from a fair bit of location footage. Merton Park clearly pushed the boat on this 56 minute opus. Co-starring in this are Barbara (Hammer Films) Shelley, Peter (Jeff Tracy) Dyneley and Geoffrey Keen.

This one keeps you guessing until the end when the killer is revealed.